Please don't respond unless you read my whole post!
(I know its long)
I've been doing a lot of research and browsing the forums and I've decided on two possible upgrade paths. I would just like some feedback as to which way to go. I've always leaned towards Ati, but that doesn't mean I won't consider nVidia. This will be my second PC build and I'll probably upgrade the processor to a dual-core when I'm able to scratch up enough dough as I'm married and its easier to get a little money here and there to upgrade rather than a bunch all at the same time. Right now I have an Athlon XP 2000+, radeon 9600pro, 256x2 pc2700, 4 hard drives of varying capacity, sony dru-810a, 16x DVD-rom, 430 watt PS (I cant remember the brand right now and I'm at work).
I have a $400-500 budget for a mobo, proc, memory, and vid card. Everything else i already have. I'm looking to build a system that will be inexpensive now, but upgradable for the next couple years. This will be mostly a web browsing and photo editing machine, and the only games I play are C&C:Generals and SimCity4 (Maybe AoE III). I was really leaning towards a socket 939 (i don't want to wait for AM2), but i hear conroe will run on a 975x mobo with a bios update, and I thought that lga775 might be a better option now, especially since I plan on upgrading the processor in the near future anyway. Also, would it be worth it to limp along on my current memory (2x256 pc2700) and spend more on the proc, mobo and/or vid card? Thanks for your help.
Here are the two options I am considering: (with product links)
S939
*Abit AT8 32x- $157 @ ewiz.com
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MB-AT8-32X&c=fr&pid=d1525bb3e1f4d4096b8fdc7bb110654114393edf037a16ed25ac87706b256877
(I like the idea of 2 16x pci-e slots and I like Abit's uGuru)
-or-
Abit AT8 -$105 @ Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127230
*AMD 3000+ - $136
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103568
*Powercolor x1600pro - $110
(I'd rather have sm 3.0 and the 7600gt is too much for me right now)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814131318
*Corsair 512x2 pc3200 - $87 (-$15MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145450
s939 Total: $490
LGA775
*Intel 975x $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016
*Intel Celeron D 336 - $68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112205
*Powercolor x1600pro - $110
(I'd rather have sm 3.0 and the 7600gt is too much for me right now)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814131318
*Corsair VS 512x2 pc2-5300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145568
lga775 Total: $478
(I know its long)
I've been doing a lot of research and browsing the forums and I've decided on two possible upgrade paths. I would just like some feedback as to which way to go. I've always leaned towards Ati, but that doesn't mean I won't consider nVidia. This will be my second PC build and I'll probably upgrade the processor to a dual-core when I'm able to scratch up enough dough as I'm married and its easier to get a little money here and there to upgrade rather than a bunch all at the same time. Right now I have an Athlon XP 2000+, radeon 9600pro, 256x2 pc2700, 4 hard drives of varying capacity, sony dru-810a, 16x DVD-rom, 430 watt PS (I cant remember the brand right now and I'm at work).
I have a $400-500 budget for a mobo, proc, memory, and vid card. Everything else i already have. I'm looking to build a system that will be inexpensive now, but upgradable for the next couple years. This will be mostly a web browsing and photo editing machine, and the only games I play are C&C:Generals and SimCity4 (Maybe AoE III). I was really leaning towards a socket 939 (i don't want to wait for AM2), but i hear conroe will run on a 975x mobo with a bios update, and I thought that lga775 might be a better option now, especially since I plan on upgrading the processor in the near future anyway. Also, would it be worth it to limp along on my current memory (2x256 pc2700) and spend more on the proc, mobo and/or vid card? Thanks for your help.
Here are the two options I am considering: (with product links)
S939
*Abit AT8 32x- $157 @ ewiz.com
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MB-AT8-32X&c=fr&pid=d1525bb3e1f4d4096b8fdc7bb110654114393edf037a16ed25ac87706b256877
(I like the idea of 2 16x pci-e slots and I like Abit's uGuru)
-or-
Abit AT8 -$105 @ Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127230
*AMD 3000+ - $136
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103568
*Powercolor x1600pro - $110
(I'd rather have sm 3.0 and the 7600gt is too much for me right now)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814131318
*Corsair 512x2 pc3200 - $87 (-$15MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145450
s939 Total: $490
LGA775
*Intel 975x $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016
*Intel Celeron D 336 - $68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112205
*Powercolor x1600pro - $110
(I'd rather have sm 3.0 and the 7600gt is too much for me right now)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814131318
*Corsair VS 512x2 pc2-5300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145568
lga775 Total: $478